The epic reveal of all things Grand Theft Auto V is here. The folks at Game Informer have shown off a massive cover article that details lots of information about Rockstar’s upcoming mega game. When a new GTA is announced, gamers cannot help but froth at the mouth for new details. GTA is one of those games that transcends gaming. Like Call of Duty and Halo, the launch of a new Grand Theft Auto is an event. It seems to be all we can talk about, and of course, I would not be much of a games writer if I did not throw in my two cents on the GTA V madness.

Today, I am going to talk about the new features that have been announced in GTA V that have me the most excited. These are features that are making me want to run out to my local video game store and slap my preorder down, even if the game is not launching until the spring of next year. This game has the makings of something special, and it looks like it might be the perfect way to usher in the end of this console generation. Why not go out with a bang?

Size of the World

Rockstar did a great job of putting just how massive the world of Grand Theft Auto V is in perspective. The game world is the size of Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV combined. Pause for a second and think about. We are getting close to MMO world size here in a single player game, which is a little hard to wrap your head around.

Keep in mind, when Rockstar talks about the size of the world, they are including internal space, and buildings that rise up. This means you won’t be driving around forever going from place to place, but you will still have a positively massive world to explore. From the sound of things, just wandering around the world sounds like it can offer hours and hours of fun!

Three Protagonists

In GTA V, the player controls a small crew of three protagonists, instead of the traditional one character, like in previous GTA games. Michael, Trevor and Franklin’s stories interconnect as they complete missions together, and this definitely changes the gameplay in GTA substantially.

During the game, you will be switching back and forth between the three main characters, which offers a new type of dynamic gameplay the likes of which has not been in a GTA game before. While nothing has been announced officially, this seems to open up a whole world of co-op gameplay, which could be absolutely amazing. It would make the game closer to being the GTA MMO I’ve always dreamed about.

Dynamic Missions

One of the greatest features of Red Dead Redemption (which is my favorite Rockstar Game ever made) is the dynamic missions. Instead of just driving from mission marker to mission marker, you will encounter dynamically occurring events that you can choose to address or walk away from. This makes the world feel much more alive, and it helps bring the game to another level.

With the promise of the largest game world Rockstar has ever built, it needs to feel alive or it will feel empty (which is a major complaint I had with San Andreas). Having random events in the world while traveling around makes the NPCs feel like more than just fodder for you to shoot at; they feel like real people.

General Gameplay Improvements

Improving the basic gameplay is par for the course in sequels, but let’s be honest, there are some simple gameplay elements that need work in GTA games. The shooting has always been kind of mediocre, and the driving has never been perfect. Rockstar promises that they are taking major strides to improve these basic gameplay mechanics, and that, along with all the other amazing things this game is promising makes this a game worth being excited about.

Conclusion

If you’re a gamer, you are probably already excited about Grand Theft Auto V, but if you were not, hopefully I’ve convinced you otherwise. The scale and scope of the world is enough to get my attention, the rest of the awesomeness is just icing on the cake.

Emmanuel Obarhua

Glenn

November 21, 2012

I disagree a ton. A big world doesnt necessarily mean better. Travel distance between missions was already a problem in san andreas and gta iv and even though we got taxis, doesnt that kill the experience? Also with a bigger world, we gonna see more bugs. Im also sceptical bout switching characters. You rarely feel anything for the characters in a gta game (not only because they mostly are murders, robbers etc but also since you never go in depth and you cant make decisions like in mass effect and (not like it mattered in the end :p) Switching protagonists only gonna create an even bigger distance between us an our characters I feel. Of course, I hope that im wrong, but im def not as sure as you are.